Google Photos won't offer free unlimited storage
Google has added a major change to its Google Photos cloud storage platform. Google Photos will no longer allow for free unlimited storage of photos and videos, starting June 1, 2021, as part of a change to its unlimited High-quality storage policy. Read on to more about this and what you need to do next.
Google Photos won't offer free unlimited storage
As announced via a blog post, Google will stop providing free unlimited storage for high-quality photos and videos. Starting June 1 2021, all the new media uploaded to Google Photos will be a part of the 15GB of free storage offered to every Google account user. This will be also applicable for any Google One subscription you have subscribed to.
This change is also applicable for files stored in other Google apps such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more. The files in these Google apps will be counted 'toward the free 15GB of storage' you have.
While Google has announced a surprising change for the users, it has also announced some reliefs. Google has suggested that the photos and videos backed before June 1, 2021, won't come under the new rule and will remain free on the platform. Media stored in original quality will also remain free from the storage rule and will be as usual included in the 15GB of storage. Further, Pixel users will have a slight advantage over here as the media they upload on Google Photos will be exempted from the new rule.
However, you need not worry right now. Google has stated that the change is still 6 months away from now and around 80% of users will still be able to use the free storage for around 3 more years.
But if you are getting close to the end of the 15GB of storage, you will be notified about the same. For this, you can also get to see a personalised estimate of the storage you have. You will get a new tool to manage backed up photos and media, starting June 1, 2021.
You can also buy Google One subscription for more storage. You can get 100GB of storage for Rs. 130/month (currently at Rs. 65/month), 200GB of storage for Rs. 210/month, and 2TB of storage for Rs. 650/month. You can head to your Google Drive and select the 'Buy Storage' option to go about it or directly visit Google One website for the same.
